The Very Long Machu Picchu Day

So it was our last day in Cuzco, Peru, we had to get up at three a.m. in the morning in order to see Machu Picchu. I was sick and had diarrhea. I was really worried about being in the taxi or even on Machu Picchu itself and needing “to go” and not having a handy restroom available. I knew it would break my wife Lisa’s heart to be so close now and not be able to actually go there and experience it. What are the odds we would ever come back?

Imagine if you will, even years later talking about being in Peru, doing the whole Inti Raymi Incan Winter Solstice festival, and all the rest, and then the Machu Picchu question would come up. The horror!

So I just took the course that we would go and take it a minute at a time. I had multiple pockets stuffed with tissue. I had to wake up the night clerk in the Terra Andina hotel desk area downstairs. He hurried to get our lunch; I didn’t really want it but wanted to be polite. He unbolted the heavy cross brace on the door. The taxi arrived and of course the driver didn’t speak any English. I had the doorman explain the “situation” as best he could.
We took off in the dark, the driver drove like a fiend possessed. It was scary and exhilarating at the same time, like when Space Mountain first came out. We would approach small three wheeled vehicles at high speed that had no lights. He asked at one point if I needed to stop, on the top of a cold black mountain, I said ah..no, not now.

We arrived at the train station in Ollantaytambo and inexplicably we ended up in a Vistadome Train with only one car and we got to sit in the front seat! The view was incredible and as the train went on the terrain changed to more of a jungle as the sun came up over the Andes. Porters for the Inca trail with heavy packs ran along the tracks at one point. We eventually came to the small town Aguas Calientes. Lost, we ended up following another couple through a crooked market to the bus station.

I started feeling much more stomach stable and was thinking I was going to make it. The bus traveled hairpin turns up the mountain, we passed many other buses. We stopped at a small ski resort looking place where they took our tickets into Machu Picchu. It was a walk in, up many gasping stone steps. We came to a crossroads to go up to the top or straight down to the main part of the ruin, we went up, this turned out to be smart thinking.
We walked back and forth and just took it all in. It had swirling mist which made things seem more veiled and secretive. People always ask me, “was it spiritual”? For me no, but it was cool and more expansive and encompassing than I thought it would be. At one point my wife stopped and hid a special object she had carried up in a tiny nook she found. Several people seemed to be performing rituals, possibly even getting married.

I took all the standard Machu Piichu shots and tried to get a few that were different. It was challenging to try and get perfect photos of the ruins without other touristas in them. I wanted it all for myself, but there will not be that time for anyone I am afraid, it is the number one attraction in South America.
We never did find our guide but due to some reading beforehand we really didn’t need one. Most of the key points were readily identifiable. After hiking around for four hours or so we started back. Lisa had tears in her eyes she was so happy.
Here was where I was glad we had covered the top part first I was a very tired boy. We didn’t get home till quite late.

Damn You Machu Picchu!!

So I booked tickets to Cuzco, Peru the other day.

It seemed like an interesting place, lots to see and do. We had a good looking hotel in the package. As I was trying to get tickets on PERURAIL from Cuzco to Machu Picchu last night, something was amiss, no tickets were available. There are three trains that run pretty much daily. The cheap Backpacker, the medium priced Vistadrome, and the hideously expensive Hiram Bingham, ( the one Tony Bourdain was on during his TV show). There was no availability the entire week.

So the dilemma ensues. I had noticed there was no way to book the extra train tour on Expedia when I booked the trip which I thought odd. There is basically no other way up there, either the train or you can hike, if you are insane, extremely young and foolish, or trying desperately to convince yourself you are immortal. Looking at these steep mountain trails you can understand why cocaine was invented here. There had been helicopter trips which have been thankfully discontinued. Also there is talk of putting in a bridge so people can drive from a local town. But for now, for me anyway, there is just the elusive train.

I personally wouldn’t care so much. My wife however, has informed me this is a “spiritual experience of a lifetime” and no Machu Picchu would really shatter her whole trip.
Originally, this all started with a story about how I eat guinea pigs occasionally for dinner, for laughs. I had read the people of that area consider it a delicacy. It makes sense of course, few working people in the world keep pets like Americans do. The Vietnamese pot bellied pigs we see as pets here are not pets at home, they are what’s for dinner as they say.

A guy I work with, Pascual, one day mentioned he was from Cuzco. He said “yes it is good there, you should go”. So I asked him “when would be the best time to go”. He said the end of June there is a festival the “Sun” festival. So I looked up Inti Raymi, the Fiesta del Sol, or sun festival. It looked good. I talked with the wife she said yes let’s go.

So here we are. I just received two books on the Cuzco area from Powell’s in the mail yesterday. As I was sitting here in some rare February sunshine yesterday afternoon, perusing them, I was getting psyched up for the trip.I thought to myself I should check more on that train deal. Ah well, I am sure there must be some kind of train ticket scalpers eh?

Damn you Machu Picchu!!